Sooner or Later
by iheartShules
Summary: She couldn't wait for the day when she could re-emerge in the lives of those she loved and cared about, she had a feeling that day was coming soon. ::Takes place after the season 3 finale so spoilers up through 3x23. AU since Joss Carter lives on! It's me so Careese is gonna happen eventually and rating most likely will become M because I'm a smut monger ;P::


_**AN: This WAS going to be an oneshot to Careese Themes which I think quite literally I would be skinned alive had I posted it in Themes. So I decided to take pity on myself, post this separate at the insistence of my friends. Thanks Elaine and Gretchen for listening to me whine about being undecided about it. You guys put up with so much from me, I appreciate it. Here's the thing, it's a work in progress since I'm not sure if this will be exactly the greatest, and I'm posting this to put some feelers out, see if you guys will like this kind of story or not. If not, I'll let it go and write it for my itty bitty self and my friends, but if it seems like you guys dig it I'll make this into a tiny multi-chap fic. Nothing huge. Got a whole other HUGE fic thing that I wasn't going to post but I decided to heed SWWoman's advice! It was my therapy over Joss's death, maybe you guys would find it enjoying too. But no hints on what it is cuz it might take a while to post it, since Moments needs an update too :D  
**_

_**Okay, with that said one tiny thing so you know, Root refers to the machine as SHE on the show, so I wanted to keep that in my story. So all of Root's references to the machine as she, her, herself will be in italics, so you know that when Root is referring to she it means the machine :D Thnx Elaine for that little suggestion it does make it easier to know! **_

_**Plus this story is AU since Joss is alive, but that is the only AUish thing about this ;P ugh, okay I'll shut up to let you guys read.**_

* * *

"Buy you a drink?" A man sidled up next to her, making her pull her gaze off her half-drunk scotch on the rocks. It wasn't her favorite drink but it was his.

"I have one," she answered.

"Well, since I can't buy you a drink, can I ask for your name?" The man was good looking. He had a shaved head, a goatee; his rich mocha skin looked like he put lotion on to make it so creamy smooth. "My name is Ty."

"Look I'm not in the mood to be hit on; it's been a very long day," Joss said, trying to let him down gently. Not in a good mood in the least. In fact, if she was honest, she hadn't been in a good mood since she died…or technically 'sort of' died.

"A very beautiful woman like you won't be sitting in this bar alone for long," he said with a sweeping look of the darkly lit bar filled with men and women in suits. He flashed her a smile full of teeth, gave her a once over as if she should be flattered to be getting his attention, and a distinctive male look. She was unimpressed; these pretty boys always thought they were all that, and 9 out of 10 times they were just filled with hot air.

"You're right, since I won't be staying for long, I'm only here to save your life Mr. Tyler Macklebee," she acknowledged, throwing back the final bit of the drink she had and grimaced as the alcohol burned the back of her throat, eyeing his shock. Joss stood up, sliding bills out of her pocket to pay for her drinks just before she yanked her Nano out, shooting a guy in the leg as he entered the bar without even bothering to look. He cried out, she kicked the semi-automatic handgun away from the skinny man's reach, and smiled down at the writhing man. "I suggest, Mr. Granderson, before you go about shooting your former boss, Mr. Macklebee here, for firing you, you should really look in the mirror and realize why you were terminated in the first place," she suggested, yanking his hands back, zip-tying them together. She straightened, flicking back some hair behind her ears. The man who had been trying to hit on her just stared in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" the man she just saved demanded. Her dark brown gaze fell on his and she gave him a small shrug, then a secretive smile.

"A concerned citizen," she winked before turning to look at the bartender. "I suggest you call the police, specifically request Detective Lionel Fusco and his new partner, Detective Sameen Roberts, tell them a former friend sends them regards…oh and an ambulance for the guy too." She turned, exiting the bar without any more conversation. The cool night's air smacked her in the face, sending her hair billowing when the wind gusted, and she fixed her collar of her half wool and half leather coat. It was already into June, but it was taking quite a while for this past brutal winter to leave.

She pulled her cell phone out, dialing a number and only had to wait one ring before it was answered. "I saved him," she said instead of greeting the other person on the other end.

"Good, I appreciate the help, Joss." The woman on the other end was way too mysterious and she wasn't totally sure if Root was a good guy or not, but at this point she wasn't ready to question it. They had similar interests as of right now, protecting their friends, and for that she was willing to work side by side with her. She just wanted to rise from the dead, she was tired of the vampire routine, and she missed her life.

"Root, we need to meet."

"Yes, we do, let's meet at Central Park, in say, ten minutes." Joss agreed and hung up.

A few minutes later Joss entered Central Park with cool confidence, hands now stuffed into her jacket pockets, while her mind was back in the past. She had nearly lost everything she once held dear to her, she didn't think she'd ever see her son again or the man that came to mean the most to her until one day three months ago when Root reentered her life. Root had rescued her from her 'prison' of witness protection, telling her that the machine just informed her that Joss was truly alive, and that she was an asset in their fight against Decima. Since then, since helping Root with the relevant list, she had only thought of getting back to her son and John.

She saw her boy for the first time in a long time two months ago. Taylor had cried, she cried, and she thanked Root for giving her a chance to see her boy again, which was accepted with a nod of the head and a motion it was time to go. She had fibbed to her boy, claiming she was helping the government, that she wasn't going to be able to be around for a while. Root had facilitated the story by flashing her FBI badge that she had gotten at some point and, with that, he had let her go, telling her to be safe. She couldn't wait for the day when she could re-emerge in the lives of those she loved and cared about, she had a feeling that day was coming soon.

She saw Root waiting for her.

"Hello, Joss," she greeted with a smile.

"Hello R-"but paused when the woman held a finger to her lips. "Oh right, forgot you have a new name, right? Hannah Benson is it?"

"Yes, as you know from our little talk that, with Samaritan being online, my life, Harold's, Sameen's, and John's lives are all in danger. We need to live ordinary lives, speak in code, or we're dead." Joss nodded her head solemnly. Root had told her about what happened a few weeks earlier, she had been scared and worried for them all. "That's where you come in, since you're already dead." Root motioned for them to walk together.

"The latest numbers you've been giving me are irrelevants, so I guess my helping with relevant numbers is over."

"Yes, the relevant numbers are going to the government again but with Samaritan instead of to _her_," she acknowledged. "'He's' trying to find where _she_ is located, which is worrisome, but _she's_ protecting _herself_," Root said, continuing to refuse to acknowledge that the machine and this Samaritan didn't have a gender, so Joss gave up trying to get the woman to stop using the pronouns. It was pointless arguing about it.

"You promised that after I didn't need to help with the relevant numbers any longer that I could see John again," she said. "I'm holding you to that, I want to see him now." Want-no, she _needed_ to see him again.

"Which is why I asked to meet with you here," she assured her before pulling out a manila folder.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the manila folder without looking at its contents, her gaze on the brunette beside her.

"All the information you need to know about who, where, and what John is doing. I highly recommend not seeing him at all, but, if you must you have to make it brief as possible." Root sounded apologetic but it didn't matter, she shook her head.

"Brief? That wasn't the arrangement when I agreed to help you and your machine."

"I know, but we had to amend it since we didn't fully anticipate that Samaritan would go live," Root explained, looking around the park, making sure they weren't speaking too loudly.

"Well amend it again, because if you don't, I'm out."

"Would you? Would you abandon helping people just to get to see Lurch again?"

"Don't talk down to me, _Root_," she whispered her name. "Months ago you took me from a rehab center where I was under the watchful eye of Federal Marshals and the FBI by tasering my security detail. You asked me to hear you out and I did. I listened to you as you asked me to help you with the relevant numbers. I trusted you when you said you'd let me see Taylor and you did, you asked me to wait to see John until after we didn't have the relevant numbers to save or stop any longer. Well that has happened. Now it's time to pay up."

"I know this has been hard for you detective, staying a ghost to your friends has put a lot of stress on you. _She_ knows that, but showing up into John's life for an extended period of time could alert Samaritan, especially if your real identity is found out. The life, the identity in that manila folder that I created for John is to remain secret to remain ordinary. If you are found out to be alive, you don't expect a media circus to happen? You're the female detective that brought down HR and was a fatal casualty of that operation; your face will be plastered on every news station; local and nation-wide if you're found to be alive. Tell me, Joss, what if you're with John when that happens?"

"That's hypothetical!" Oh, she had no doubts that if her identity was found out that a press circus would happen as Root claimed. HR was a huge national story, her 'death' had been national news, but she would be careful so no one found out until it didn't matter anymore. "I can be careful; I've been parading around for a couple months now, alive and well, without anyone being the wiser."

"Yes, but what happens if and when your luck runs out? If John's secret identity is found out, he's as good as dead because there is no way _she_ or I could help him."

"So what, I get to see John for seconds-bare minutes and then I have to let him go?" Joss asked as her breath hitched. "Why didn't you let me see him in the first place back when you let me see my boy, back before Samaritan came online?" she demanded.

"We needed his anger," Root said quietly and Joss stiffened.

"You made him suffer, made me suffer, because you wanted to use my _death_ to fuel his hurt and his anger?" her tone grew colder with each passing word.

"We thought it would help him choose to kill the congressman; we thought he would do it because of what happened to you with HR. He was going to, but Harold talked him out of it, and when John failed to kill him _she_ had to go to Plan B."

"So-let me get this straight, you allowed me to see my son but not John so he could kill a congressman because he was still hurting over my death? So he could save the machine?"

Root shook her head. "No, so he could save _all of us_."

"Who the hell do you think you are, that you get to play with people's emotions, play god like that?!"

"I'm not playing, Joss, _she_ is god," Root said quietly with an intense look on her face. "_She_ feels bad for John but _she_ also knew that, in the end, it would all work itself out. And it still can, we need your help to save him, us...and _her_."

"Why should I continue to help you, after what you just told me?" she demanded.

"Because it's in your nature, because if you do this, you'll get your life back and so will everyone you care for, and you'll be able to tell John how you feel about him," Root said with a ghost of a smile on her lips. "I don't care much for the man myself, but I saw the look in your eyes, detective, when you saw the photos of him that I gave you months ago." That memory was burned in her brain forever, she nearly sobbed sitting in the car with Root, staring at him. Joss had kept those photos of John for herself. They got her through her loneliest hours, it got her to muster up even more in her to take down the relevant numbers, or stitch herself up after an injury by just seeing his photo. Seeing photos of John at her gravesite, anguish written on his face, love ebbing out of him as he kissed her marble tombstone as Root had captured him, gave her the strength to do what needed to be done. Each and every time she gazed at those photographs she felt a renewed sense of confidence in herself. Because one day she was going to walk back into his life, show him that, yes, he had suffered, but she was there to take his pain away. And she wasn't ever going to leave him again.

Joss locked her feelings for that man away, determined to keep her feelings private. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear, do not ever try to perceive you know anything about me or my feelings, especially for John. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Joss, I understand perfectly." She had a cocky grin on her face that Joss would love nothing more than to smack off of her face. "So are you still willing to help?"

"Of course I am, I just don't agree with your methods."

"Good, I have a new number for you."

"Tomorrow. Tonight I have to go see someone," Joss said, feeling giddy as she began backpedaling towards the entrance of the park wanting to go see him now.

"Remember make it brief, detective," Root warned. "I might not perceive to know anything about your feelings for Lurch, but I do know his for you. He won't readily just let you leave him, you're his weakness." Joss paused, looking at the brunette.

"I'm not his weakness."

"Love is a weakness; the helper monkey has too many feeling." Joss had enough. This woman was willing to use his so called 'weakness' to her advantage and then she turns around and disparages him for having them! The nerve!

"Who the hell do you think you are, passing judgment on him for having feelings, for having emotions?!" Joss snarled quietly, feeling like an animal readying itself for an attack. She moved close to Root, seeing the surprise in the dark eyes. "Let me tell you something about John. When I first met him, he was closed off, empty, and he didn't look like he had any hope. He looked lost, vulnerable, and his soul was so badly battered that I didn't know if I could help him, but even as tortured as his soul was, it wasn't broken. He was better than it all. He just needed someone to believe in him again and he found that with Harold with saving the numbers. It gave him a reason to go on. John feels things so deeply, so profoundly and you were willing to exploit that to save your machine! His feelings, his emotions are his greatest strengths, but then again you wouldn't know anything about that would you since all you care about are machines," Joss spoke out angrily, breathing raggedly, watching Root's face closely, but she gave away nothing.

"I'm sorry to have upset you, Joss," Root spoke quietly having taken the tirade in stride.

"Yet you succeeded in doing it so well, _Hannah,_" she hissed her cover name. "You don't know him, you don't know anything about him, so I suggest you never say a bad thing about John in front of me again, or you won't like what I do," she vowed.

"You look so fierce, Joss, so riled up over your man…that's why I am asking you to not see him, because, regardless if he can let you go or not, you can't let him go," Root stated quietly.

"You have no idea what I am or am not capable of doing," she replied. "I'm seeing him," she said as she turned, hurrying to her car, and opened the manila folder to find John.

She greedily looked into who John was forced to be. John Reyes, mid-forties, single, a bartender. She rolled her eyes. John, a bartender; she couldn't see him doing anything so…so typical. But Root had included where John was employed currently, Corner Bristo in the heart of Manhattan. He lived just a block away, surprisingly it was only five minutes from her own small apartment that Root had gotten her.

She'd go see if he was at work, if not then she'd just let herself into his place as he done so many times to her, paybacks were a bitch, she thought with a smile as she drove. _"Yes, but what happens if and when your luck runs out? If John's secret identity is found out-he's as good as dead because there is no way she or I could help him." _Root's words haunted her as she drove. Was she putting her own selfish desires to see him ahead of his well-being? She knew that once she reappeared into his life, he wouldn't let her vanish from him again, and what if someone learned who she truly was. She could be risking John's life.

Joss pulled up across the street from Corner Bristo, pulled out her binoculars and zoomed in. Her heart stopped as she saw him. He was wearing a black t-shirt with Corner Bristo written on the upper left side. It was tucked into his denim jeans, showcasing that flat stomach and nice muscular chest he had. His hair was au-natural without a hint of hairspray, just a comb graced his locks. It was a bit longer, maybe grayer too. Why, all of a sudden, did her fingers itch? Her adoring gaze swept down as he bent to wipe down a small square wooden table that could seat 4. She was unashamed as she ogled his ass that was incased in well-worn light blue jeans that seemed to have been stitched together with him in mind.

She slid from her car, walking across the street, careful to remain out of his sight as she moved his way. She wasn't ready for him to know she was alive. A large and blue 'Sorry we're CLOSED' sign hung on the front entrance. Joss got to the edge of the large window, peeking in, seeing him with his back turned to her. She pulled her cell phone, used the malware app, and cloned his phone. When it read force-pair complete, she grinned as she watched John grab his phone as it must have made a beep. He pocketed it in his side pocket once more and turned. She hid behind the brown bricks, sucking in breath, worried he had seen her before she was certain she was ready to blow apart his world.

Joss crossed the street, hit the microphone button, and climbed into her car. _"John, my boy, you look tired again!"_ Joss furrowed her brows when a feminine voice filtered through her phone. Someone was in there with John.

"_No, Mrs. Lopez, I'm fine."_ Joss closed her eyes as his voice washed over her. She hadn't heard that sexy, soft, rumble in so long…she didn't think she'd ever get to hear it again.

"_It's Selena remember."_

"_Sorry." _He sounded sincere, as if he wasn't accustomed to calling her by her first name, which was formal, so Joss was taking a guess that this was his manager. She grabbed the file to find out, listening to them talk.

"_John, you need sleep. Drink some tart cherry juice; it should help naturally with your sleeping problem_." The woman spoke to John as if she was his mother Joss decided; so no threat to her. She finally found John's employer in his folder; Selena Lopez, age 66, widower and owner of Corner Bristo for over 25 years. She lowered the file, pulled her binoculars back up to her eyes, watching John once more. He was standing near another table, cleaning it while he talked with the woman amicably. He sounded sad; she knew it had to be that he had to pretend to be John Reyes without knowing how his friends were. He was very protective of his friends, not so much himself, and she bet that this forced separation from Harold and the team was taking its toll on him.

Joss shifted to get comfortable as she listened to their conversation, laughing when John was chided about being single and needing to find a woman to make a houseful of babies. John's reaction had been utterly cute; she heard his stutter of "…er, um, uh." She could imagine John's children with big blue eyes and little daredevils. It was a shame he never had a child, he'd make a great father if he ever let himself enjoy life.

His employer made a snarky comment to him, bringing a rumble of laughter from John, and she smiled softly. This Selena was good for him, made him laugh, took care of him, and tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't go to him, she couldn't hurt him. It was being selfish to risk his life, his well-being, just because she couldn't take not seeing him. He grieved for her but he was finding a way to live in the world he was forced into as of right now. John wouldn't let her go and to be perfectly honest, if she walked up to him and showed herself to him, she wouldn't be able to let him go either. She'd want to remain rooted in his life, to hell with the consequences. One look at him, face to face and she'd be toast. Her phone rang, she knew it was Root, and she clicked her earpiece, answering.

"What?" she snapped as a way to fight the tears that threatened to fall.

"You haven't gone to him," Root said.

"What are you doing, following me?"

"No, _she_ sees you."

"How can I just enter his life, Root, and then disappear again? He wouldn't let me." _And Root was right; I'm not strong enough to let him go._

"No he wouldn't."

"You knew I'd have a change of heart after seeing him, you let me go on purpose!" she accused.

"Yes, _she_ and I both figured you would come to your senses, that seeing him would not be in either of your best interests." Root agreed. "But I came up with an idea, knowing you'd put his well-being ahead of your own desires."

"An idea?"

"Yes, a way you can be in his life without his knowledge."

"How?" she whispered, blinking tears back. She wanted nothing more than to walk up to him, wrap her arms around him, and breathe him in.

"Leave it to me, but when I call you, you answer on the first ring and do as I say. No questions this time, Joss."

"I'll do anything," She whispered. She'd do anything if it meant she got to speak to him again without him knowing, to protect him. She didn't see how it would work, but she was willing to let Root work her magic.

"Now I suggest you leave and go home, I'll call you as soon as I can." Root said before hanging up. Joss sighed heavily. She forced herself to turn key in the ignition, forced herself to pull out onto the road, and drive away from John. Joss was hit with the realization that she was helplessly in love with John and soon tears that had threatened to fall finally did.

* * *

John barely entered his apartment when his cell rang; nobody had his number except for his employer, Selena, and Root. Selena kicked him out and told him to go home, so that left Root. Since the day they all went their separate ways he hadn't heard from her or anyone. He answered it slowly.

"Hello," he answered noncommittedly.

"Hi John, it's me, Hannah, long time no see," Root greeted. He smiled, realizing why Root had chosen the name she had.

"Hello…Hannah."

"So I have a little job for you."

"You still get the numbers?"

"Yes, our other friends, Harold and Sameen, are hard at work on some of them as we speak."

"Why haven't you contacted me in a while, friend?"

"Because where you are located at and what you do doesn't exactly help them the way Sameen's and Harold's have. But don't worry, we haven't forgotten you; we'll be calling you for help soon, however I need something else from you right now."

"What?" he sighed, didn't she know what time it was. But of course she had to know when he punched out at 2:30 this morning from the Corner Bristo since she was in contact with the seemingly all-knowing machine. He yawned mightily, he'd gotten no sleep the night before, his sleep patterns have been bad since Joss died but steadily gotten worse with worry over Harold.

"Write this down." He walked to his small kitchen where old unread mail rested. He flipped a white envelope over, grabbed a pen and fitted his phone between his ear and shoulder, hand ready.

"Go," he commanded.

"Capital J then capital C no spaces, lower case g-u-r-l-4-2-x-o, I again repeat, no spaces." John furrowed his brows as he wrote down what she said, it read 'JCgurl42xo.'

"What is this?"

"It's a username for a dating website _she_ wants you to speak with this person." He wrote the website down as well before eyeing what he had written.

"Why? Is this person an irrelevant?"

"_She_ sees something but _she_ doesn't know what it is, _she_ needs you to investigate this quietly for _her_," Root explained. "I have another username you need to write down as well…yours."

"You already created an account for me?" he grumbled. Couldn't she have given this assignment to Finch or better yet Lionel, and instead give him a real number to investigate?

"And I added your profile picture too; girls have already been sending you threads to start speaking with you." He glowered. "I can't see you, but I can picture the look on your face right now, John. Stop the sourpuss look, it might get stuck."

"What is it?" he snapped, picking the pen back up again.

"All lower case; b-l-u-e-e-y-e-g-u-y-0-0-7, and your password is Finch101." He rolled his eyes as it spelled out blueeyeguy007, which was so _not_ original. "You're a James Bond fan, right?"

"Not really," his voice sounded peeved.

"It's not nice to try to lie to someone who knows what movies you paid money to go see," she tsked and his glower grew bigger. "She's on right now, hurry up, and log on, we need to know who she is." With that Root hung up. Well the machine was going to have to wait, he was going to take a shower and change, and then he'd talk to this woman.

Joss had gone to the place that Root had gotten for her; it was only five minutes from John's. It was a small one bedroom apartment, it was no bigger than probably 600 square feet but it got the job done. She had a kitchen, a living space, a nice spacious bedroom, and a decent bathroom. It was all she needed since she wasn't going to spend her life there anyway. She had plans on getting her son back and wiggling back into John's life soon. Root had been abrupt when she had assured her that she could be in John's life but not show herself to him. She couldn't fathom how, but she was anxious for her phone call, she'd been home now for hours and still no call, it was already a little past 2:30 in the morning. But Root promised to call her, so she needed to remain awake.

She rolled her shoulders before eyeing her cell phone, willing it to ring. When it didn't, she decided to go change for the night while she waited. Joss walked to the left, moving down the small hallway into her bedroom, tugging her shirt over her head, unclasped her bra, and unbuttoned/unzipped her pants before yanking them down. She opened her standard sized dresser yanking out an oversized dark gray t-shirt, then red and black checkered pajama shorts, pulling them on.

Her head lifted immediately when she heard her cell ring, and she tore off running for the door. She rushed out of her bedroom into the living room-kitchen that were connected and lead to the front door. Her phone laid unwanted on the countertop near her fridge. She grabbed it, answering it quickly.

"Hey," she wanted to bitch about how long it took her to call her, but she held it in. She was just grateful that Root had come up with an idea.

"Write this down and hurry." She rushed to her living room where a notepad and pen rested.

"I'm ready," she grabbed the pen. She sped wrote as Root spelled out a username, password, and the website address for her. "Okay what the hell is this?"

"You and John are going to correspond on this website; he believes that the machine sees you as a possible threat but can't determine that since she can't see the whole picture."

"Okay…so wait, he thinks I'm some sort of threat?"

"He doesn't know who or what you are, which will make getting him to correspond with you longer. His username is blueeyeguy007. I used his alias, creating the profile so his co-workers, if they visit the site, will see him on there. John Reyes is single and shy so him having an account on fits right in with his alias. Hurry, I told him to log on and 'talk' with you because were already on-line. This should work, just don't give yourself away, Joss."

"Thanks Root," she said sincerely, before hanging up on the woman, grabbing her laptop on the coffee table, turning it on,and plopping it onto her bed. She walked back to her kitchen poured herself a glass of wine to unwind, and reentered her bedroom logging in on her computer. She went to the website, logged on, and waited. She was on for about five minutes when she received a message saying someone sent her a message.

She clicked on the link to take her to the threads. Joss smiled as John started with a simple 'hi'. She clicked on his thread, opening it to send him a message. Her hand poised above her laptop for a moment before she wrote 'hi' back. She waited only a moment before John responded back.

Blueeyeguy007: My name is John.

She smiled as she sipped her wine, before putting it down to type.

JCgurl42xo: Hi John, that's a nice masculine name. You can call me Jaycee.

She didn't want to give "Joss' as her name for fear that John would know it was her. She didn't see it happening, but keeping up the mysterious air to her persona would help keep John talking with her. He did enjoy solving mysteries and she was going to pose as a huge one to him.

Blueeyeguy007: Alright, Jaycee.

Joss giggled to herself, picturing John glaring at his laptop right at this moment trying to figure out who she was. Root had posted a profile picture of John but posted a pic of a cartoon smiley face for her profile picture. The small bio Root gave for Jaycee would leave any guy wanting to know more; a single woman who is adventurous, independent, and knows who and what she is, seeking a man that is just as adventurous, independent and knows who and what he is.

JCgurl42xo: So tell me about yourself, John. I saw your profile photo, not bad, not bad at all.

Joss sighed as she hit the ENTER button, seeing the pink bubble of what she wrote, waiting for his response. Handsome, John wasn't handsome, he was drop dead gorgeous. Root chose a picture of John actually smiling; she didn't know where Root found it, but she was sure that it was going to excite these single women on this dating website, she realized that the thought irked her.

Blueeyeguy007: I work as a waiter at Corner Bristo.

She rolled her eyes. Even on this he was a man of few words, choosing to ignore her comment on his handsomeness. She was about to write when a ding sounded alerting her to know he messaged more and more came onto her screen.

Blueeyeguy007: I'd like to see what you look like instead of that cartoon smiley face you have.

She smiled as she typed.

JCgurl42xo: Why? Do you think I'm pretty?

She waited only seconds before his response.

Blueeyeguy007: I know you are, every woman is beautiful in their own way. Besides I have this vision of what you look like.

John was such a good man, taking the time to compliment a woman that he figured was lonely. She had to agree, women and men who signed up on this site willingly had to be lonely, making her sort of sad. She already had threads from other male users, all that had gone unheeded and would continue to go unanswered. She only did this, as Root said, as a way to be in John's life anonymously. Joss twirled some hair around her finger, thinking of what she wanted to say. She couldn't believe she was flirting with him on this damned website. He had no idea who she was, yet he figured her to be pretty.

JCgurl42xo: What's this vision, psychic?

She added a winky face then hit ENTER, not being able to help herself in wanting to infuse some humor into their talk. She and John shared a very unique relationship, one she sorely missed.

Blueeyeguy007: You wound me, Jaycee, not trusting in my instincts. But you want me to paint a picture of my vision, alright. In your bio you said you're independent which means to me that you take care of yourself, you eat right and exercise. You know who you are and what you are which means you are self-confident and honest, which are both attractive traits. Then you said you're adventurous…well that could mean anything, and everything I want to know more about.

Joss fanned herself. John sure knew how to turn on the charm even over a laptop. She was attracted to him, getting all his charm and flirtation was just too good to resist.

JCgurl42xo: Well, John, you sure know you're stuff, maybe you are psychic. Are you adventurous because I am adventurous in _every_ aspect of my life?

Before she could think things through she hit the ENTER button. She closed her eyes in disbelief as she reread what she just wrote and sent to John. She just made herself sound like a freak in bed. Oh god, he was going to think she was a pervert and he was going to tell Root he had enough. Maybe she should recant her statement, apologize, or something.

She waited and waited for him to respond, she had waited for about five minutes and she was just about to message him again apologizing when her laptop made a ding sound, alerting her to the fact that he messaged.

Blueeyeguy007: I'm adventurous too.

She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, just grateful he responded at all. Her laptop dinged again, her eyes falling back to the screen once more seeing another message from him appear.

Blueeyeguy007: Where do you live Jaycee?

JCgurl42xo: Manhattan, and you?

She knew exactly where John lived and worked but she couldn't very well tell him that.

Blueeyeguy007: What a small world, so do I. What is it that you do for a living?

JCgurl42xo: A little of this and that.

She had to keep up the pretense, besides she couldn't think of a single occupation at the moment, nothing came to her mind at all. Being 'dead' wasn't an occupation, so what could she say?

Blueeyeguy007: Care to be more specific?

JCgurl42xo: I like keeping you on your toes. Maybe I'll give away some of my secrets when I get to know you better.

Joss wrote coyly. She smiled. She just laid the groundwork to get John to agree to talk with her on this website again. She eyed the clock on her small apartment, seeing it was three in the morning.

Blueeyeguy007: I would like to get to know you better, Jaycee.

Joss giggled and pumped her fist in victory. She was pathetic she knew it, but she didn't care. She was going to get to speak, via messaging, to John, keeping him safe while doing so, without blowing his cover, and then, when this whole ordeal was over, she would get to reveal that she was Jaycee, the woman he flirted with.

JCgurl42xo: I guess I should call it a night, its 3 A.M. I don't want to though. I want to spend all night talking to you, but I do need to work tomorrow.

Which was technically true, she did want to stay up all night talking to John, but she did have work to do the morning on a new number she had to save or stop.

Blueeyeguy007: I want that too, but you're right, I need to head for bed myself; I worked a late shift at the Bristo. When will you be on next, Jaycee?

When was a good question, because she didn't know. She wanted to be on whenever he was but she did have the commitment of saving the numbers. She debated and debated, deciding on telling him tomorrow.

JCgurl42xo: I'll be on again Sunday at 8 P.M. Can you make it then?

She needed to learn John's shifts; maybe she'd have Root give her a way to hack into his restaurant's computers to learn his schedule. She waited a few minutes before he messaged back.

Blueeyeguy007: I'm off that day, I'll be here.

JCgurl42xo: It's a date then, talk to you soon, John, goodnight.

Blueeyeguy007: Goodnight, Jaycee.

She waited until he signed off to do the same. Joss sighed as she shutdown the computer, slid the screen down, and leaned back into her pillows. Well as far as connecting with John on the website, it had gone smooth. She was sure she was interesting enough to him to keep him coming back to figure her out, figure out if she was a threat or not, but she wanted to capture his interest in a different way as well. A far deeper way…a far more male interested in a female way.

Well she had about a day and a half to solve whatever new number she got from Root later in the morning. She needed to hit the sack because the earlier she got up, the earlier she could get to working on this new case, to make sure she could keep her date with John on Sunday at 8.

* * *

AN: Yep, so the oneshot would have ended here, John and Joss talking without John's knowledge. So be honest how many of you guys would have lobbed pointy objects at me if this was in Careese Themes? A show of hands... But anyways, if you guys hate it this is where it ends, but if you don't I have a chapter 2 I am halfway through it.

Anyways thanks for reading, I'll wait with anxiety to know if you hate it or think it's a decent idea.


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